390: The first battle was really late! (asking for monthly ticket)

“No, that’s not fake!”

After Jiang Yuan’s few matches, a crowd had gathered around Gu Kaiyang.

Besides a few who had indeed used the cards but found them ineffective, there were also some looking at Gu Kaiyang with suspicion.

“Not fake?”

“If it’s not fake, then why did so many of us use this card and it had no effect?”

“You’d better give us an explanation, otherwise, selling fake cards comes with a hefty price.”

“Exactly! If one person or two people found it useless, it might be an issue with their physique, but so many of us found it useless. It’s impossible that all of our physiques have problems, right?”

“I will definitely find out the reason and give you all an explanation.”

Cold sweat continuously streamed down Gu Kaiyang’s face as he hurriedly promised the crowd.

“It’s my turn next. You’d better come up with a solution quickly.”

“Um, how about you go up and let me carefully observe what method he uses to circumvent my card?” Gu Kaiyang said cautiously to the young girl in front of him.

The girl rolled her eyes but couldn’t say anything.

It was almost her turn to enter the arena. She figured it was too late to ask for an explanation now.

“If it turns out to be your problem, remember to refund me half the money.”

“No problem, no problem.”

Gu Kaiyang frowned, watching the young girl walk towards the stage.

The people nearby also stopped talking, simply standing around Gu Kaiyang and watching the match that was about to begin.

On the stage, Jiang Yuan and the young girl stood opposite each other.

He still used four cards, then handed them over to Nezha.

Easily, he won another match.

“Looking at this progress, I should be able to successfully challenge to around the one-thousandth rank today.”

Jiang Yuan was a bit happy, it seemed that the Sixth Realm Solid Star Middle Stage wasn’t that difficult to defeat after all.

However, for the upcoming Shi Shen Late Stage, Nezha alone might not be enough.

But he wasn’t worried; Nezha definitely wouldn’t be fighting alone.

To be fair, Shen was indeed different from the previous few realms.

In the previous realms, Nezha could generally defeat opponents two realms higher in situations like this.

Defeating a Late Stage opponent as an Early Stage was quite common for Nezha.

However, after Shen, it was no longer possible.

Perhaps it was because of the special traits after the Sixth Realm, or perhaps it was because the body was reshaped after the Sixth Realm.

In one or two battles, Nezha also took a while to successfully defeat the opponent.

It wasn’t like before, where merely being one minor realm higher meant an easy and pleasant victory.

He estimated that when he challenged the Shi Shen Late Stage, Nezha and Zhao Gongming would have to enter the arena together.

Speaking of which, could the [Shadow Duel] card be used on Nezha?

No, if it came to raw strength, Shi Ji should be the weakest.

Shi Ji’s abilities were mostly in Bone Spirit and Undead Enslavement.

If the opponent’s [Shadow Duel] was used on Shi Ji, would her Undead Enslavement and other abilities also be unable to deal damage to the target?

This was indeed a troublesome matter.

“People’s hearts are not what they used to be, and the world is in decline. Are people already starting to target Summoners in battles now?”

Jiang Yuan shook his head, sat back in his seat, and began to choose his next fated opponent.

“I understand!”

In a higher seat, Gu Kaiyang looked at the video in his hand and instantly understood.

“Look, he used three cards before fighting me, and after fighting me, he used four cards.”

“I guess the extra card is to deal with Source Tracing!”

“So it’s not my problem, it’s that he found a solution.”

“Then do you have a solution to this problem?”

The recently defeated young girl asked, looking at Gu Kaiyang with an unhappy expression.

“Uh…”

Gu Kaiyang was silent for a moment: “Well, I’m just an ordinary Card Creator. Even if I try to find a solution, it’s not something I can come up with in a short time.”

The young girl rolled her eyes and no longer pursued the other half of her money.

After all, he had already proven that it wasn’t his problem.

It was just that his card had been deciphered by someone.

In the arena, Jiang Yuan’s battle continued.

Now, it wasn’t just people from Zhongyuan Academy watching; even people from other academies were observing.

They were watching to see where Jiang Yuan would ultimately stop.

After all, it was quite rare for a Shi Shen Early Stage to defeat a Shi Shen Late Stage.

Not to mention, if Jiang Yuan wanted to reach the first place on the sixth-grade Student rankings, how many Shi Shen Late Stage individuals would he need to defeat?

What a rare spectacle.

Indeed, most other academies were there to watch the show.

They wanted to see if a Shi Shen Early Stage would really clear the sixth grade of Zhongyuan Academy.

They had even prepared to mock the other side.

Especially the other three top academies.

It was said that during the Four School Joint Examination, Jiang Yuan had also swept through them all.

Again, the realms after Shen and before Shen were completely different worlds.

No matter how talented you were before breaking through Shen, after breaking through Shen, you were the weakest in the “new world”!

They had said this to Jiang Yuan before, but now, Jiang Yuan had obviously proven them wrong.

Jiang Yuan continued to battle on stage, while people off stage were also researching methods to counter Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was different from other Students. After all, Jiang Yuan was a Summoning Card Master, and like a Beast Tamer Card Master, his combat power was entirely dependent on his Card Spirit, and his own combat power was not very strong.

Even if he was considered outstanding among his peers, he wasn't very effective when challenging opponents beyond his level.

It wouldn’t work against other Students, as they inherently possessed the ability to challenge beyond their level.

However, targeting someone like Jiang Yuan was relatively easy.

For example, [Shadow Duel] was this type; it directly severed the connection between Jiang Yuan and his Card Spirit, directly targeting Jiang Yuan himself.

So, they were currently contemplating how to continue targeting Jiang Yuan.

The [Shadow Duel] card was clearly no longer effective, as it had been deciphered by Jiang Yuan.

Were there other methods?

However, [Shadow Duel] was clearly a good card to use against Jiang Yuan.

Other methods were similar; their usage almost always required finding Jiang Yuan’s main body first.

But Jiang Yuan had now hidden his main body.

This was a troublesome matter.

Ultimately, there weren't many Card Creators among battle Card Masters.

Otherwise, a card could be custom-made for Jiang Yuan.

For example, a Skill Card that could prevent Jiang Yuan from using non-attack type cards.

But clearly, the difficulty of making such a card was relatively high.

If he were to ask others to create this type of card, what if Jiang Yuan didn’t choose him?

Furthermore, creating cards also took time.

There weren't many Card Creators.

There was also another problem: the strongest Card Creator in Zhongyuan Academy was Jiang Yuan’s teacher.

Asking her to create a card was feasible; Students got discounts when asking teachers to create cards.

It was just that she would most likely wait until Jiang Yuan’s challenge was over before creating the required cards, and by then, it would be too late.

But what they didn't know was that Li Yueying, as Jiang Yuan’s teacher, was currently eager to create some trouble for the too-smooth-sailing Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan was having too easy a time.

So easy that it wasn’t even dark yet, and Jiang Yuan was already close to challenging the Shi Shen Late Stage.

What if Jiang Yuan failed the challenge and couldn't handle the setback?

Li Yueying was a little worried.

“Worry about nothing!”

In the audience, a young man resembling a black bear disdainfully shouted.

“Mere Nezha, does he still need this [Shadow Duel] card?”

“And didn’t you all say this card is useless against Jiang Yuan now?”

The burly black bear man cracked his knuckles: “I really hope he challenges me, instead of picking the two Shi Shen Late Stage opponents behind me.”

“I’ll let him know that there are indeed people who challenge two minor realms higher after Shen, but he is definitely not one of them!”

“Good!”

“Awesome!”

“We’ll be counting on you then!”

After the burly black bear man finished speaking, the Shi Shen Late Stage individuals beside him also became excited.

In fact, to be serious, they all shared the same thought as the burly black bear man just now.

Jiang Yuan might defeat an opponent one minor realm higher.

But two minor realms?

With all due respect, you, Jiang Yuan, are not capable of that!

Especially since they all knew what Jiang Yuan’s Linglong Pagoda skill was.

People like them, who were two minor realms higher than Jiang Yuan, had absolutely no need to worry about the Linglong Pagoda’s skill.

However, it was precisely because of this idea that they didn't buy [Shadow Duel].

Even if the opponent had five people, what then?

Just fight!

As for what to do if they couldn't win?

How could that be possible!

The gap between Shi Shen Late Stage and Shi Shen Early Stage was still very large.

Especially for people like them.

It was no exaggeration to say that all Shi Shen Late Stage individuals on the rankings had strengthened their unique traits with heavenly material and earthly treasure.

The strengthening of a trait was equivalent to the strengthening of one’s inherent combat power.

Their combat power, if transferred to before Shen, would also be perfectly capable of challenging two minor realms higher.

Naturally, they truly didn't take Jiang Yuan seriously.

“Ha, he really chose me.”

After some more time passed, the burly black bear man, looking at the virtual screen in his hand, couldn't help but chuckle.

“He’s truly brave. He didn’t choose the dozen or so Shi Shen Late Stage opponents behind me, and instead directly chose me, despite the fifty-rank limit.”

“He has some foresight!”

The burly black bear man smiled, stood up directly, and walked towards the arena.

What preparations?

No need!

I am already in my strongest state just by entering!

“So fast?”

Seeing the burly black bear man descending from the audience, Jiang Yuan couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

Mainly, it was indeed his first time facing a Shi Shen Late Stage opponent.

He hadn’t had time to go to the Dream Tower yet.

Otherwise, he should be able to face the Shi Shen Late Stage better.

To be fair, after challenging the sixth-grade rankings, he would take a stroll in the Dream Tower.

The rewards in the Dream Tower were still very good.

Although he was already very wealthy now, with Lao Jun and Nezha, those two major consumers of heavenly material and earthly treasure, it was still somewhat insufficient.

What's more, he still had many cards that hadn't been created yet.

For example, Shi Ji’s two child attendants, or Three Xiao Goddesses who could increase Zhao Gongming’s combat power.

And for example, Lao Jun’s Azure Ox.

He always felt that sword-riding didn’t quite fit Lao Jun’s temperament.

An Azure Ox was better; at critical moments, it could even be used as a combat force.

The same went for the Water-Fire Child. Lao Jun had already said more than once that he needed a helper.

However, it was somewhat unsuitable to create these cards using Summoning Cards.

Jiang Yuan was also thinking of ways to see if there was a suitable method.

For example, some unscrupulous card games have bond cards.

They don't need to be on the field; they can activate the bond of the on-field cards just by being in the standby area.

But this was clearly a bit difficult to manage.

He would go back and discuss it with Lao Jun after the challenge was over.

And also create some equipment cards.

For example, Lao Jun’s equipment, such as the eight trigrams cloud light shawl.

And some of Nezha’s equipment.

Nezha didn’t have any bonds, but simply adding equipment could increase his combat power, which was very good.

While thinking, Jiang Yuan followed behind the burly black bear man into the arena.

The burly black bear man didn't say much when he saw Jiang Yuan. After a cold snort, he entered the Martial Arts Arena.

Jiang Yuan wasn’t a talkative person either. Seeing that the other party had no intention of speaking, he also remained silent and followed him into the Martial Arts Arena.

The countdown above the Martial Arts Arena began to change.

As the “one” disappeared, both of them simultaneously used their cards.

Purple light shone in the arena, and Nezha, Zhao Gongming, and Lao Jun appeared in the field.

Shi Ji did not appear, because he was afraid the opponent would use [Shadow Duel] to choose Shi Ji.

Shi Ji was strong in her area-of-effect abilities, although she also had illusion skills that could serve as support.

However, her individual combat power was still insufficient, especially when facing a Shi Shen Late Stage opponent.

Jiang Yuan also told Shi Ji, and Shi Ji said there was no problem at all.

It was just that the [Martial Arts Arena] card was a bit annoying, preventing her from doing her own things.

Otherwise, Shi Ji would probably be even happier.

Purple light shone, Jiang Yuan’s side was fully armed, and the burly black bear man’s side was no less impressive; although he was alone, his aura was indeed very powerful.

The burly black bear man wore a gaudy golden armor and held a large double-edged saber.

Nezha saw the opponent’s appearance and gestured to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan chuckled, then took out three more cards.

Nezha’s body immediately manifested a set of pink and white Lotus Bloom armor.

In addition to the existing armor and boots, it also included bracers and a crown.

Zhao Gongming’s Black Tiger Breaking Formation armor was also the same.

Jiang Yuan’s body also manifested a set of Heavy Water Black Tortoise armor.

Lao Jun’s body did not manifest any armor; he remained in his pure white daoist robe.

Lao Jun stated that he was a non-combatant, so he naturally didn't need armor or anything like that.

However, it must be said that the equipment Lao Jun created was very cool.

Just as now, after Nezha, Jiang Yuan, and Zhao Gongming put on this set of armor, their aura immediately overwhelmed the opponent, the burly black bear man.

The burly black bear man, who had just been full of confidence, felt his aura somewhat deflate after seeing the armor on the other side.

However, what was the meaning of that envy in his eyes?